No Handling Chris's Bad Boy in Cartier

(from Woodbine report)Chris's Bad Boy looked into the eye of the 'Tiger' and stared him down, powering on to victory in the featured $135,750 Jacques Cartier Stakes on opening day Saturday at Woodbine.

The son of Marquetry left the gate running and battled a stubborn stalwart in I'm The Tiger for most of the one-turn affair. Chris's Bad Boy took control in mid-stretch to score by four lengths in the six-furlong event. The final time for the race over a track rated "muddy" was a quick 1.08.75.

"Chris's Bad Boy is such a lovely horse," said winning rider Jono Jones, who ranked sixth in the Woodbine colony in 2003. "He just stalked him (I'm The Tiger) and when I asked him for a little more, he just went on."

Chris's Bad Boy secured his fifth consecutive victory.

Jones kept his charge just to the outside of I'm The Tiger throughout most of the race, as the speedy duo zipped through an opening quarter-mile in :22 2/5. Through a half mile in :44 3/5 and five eighths in :56 1/5, the front-running pair began to put some serious real estate between themselves and the rest of the field.

But in the end, it was last year's Kennedy Road champ and six-furlong track record-holder (1.08.05) who emerged victorious.

"He's just a good horse and he runs hard every race," said winning conditioner Vito Armata, who likened his lifetime winner of 18 races to a well-known Toronto hockey star. "He's like Gary Roberts of the Leafs."